Happy Thanksgiving from the gang

November 10 the tide was high at the south end of Jekyll. There were lots of surf clams and other tasty morsels for the birds. Willets, Red Knots, and Sanderlings all gathered up. Some American Oystercatchers flew in for a while. They all joined in the feast. Plus they took a little time to rest together. Happy Thanksgiving from my gang to yours.

Fall colors

As a child, spring was my favorite season. It was bright colors, pinks, whites and yellows. However, today as a look around I find fall is now my favorite. Look at this red of the Virginia Creeper. Then the golds for the grape vines.
wonderful colors...golds, greens and reds together. Happy Fall

Art show this weekend November 12-13

Just wanted you know that this weekend I will be part of the Georgia Coastal Artist Show. It is at the Glynn Art Building in the village near the light house on St. Simons Island, Georgia.

Come see what I have been working lately.

I have been spending most of my art time sketching lately. So I will have a couple of those to show.
Also I have decided to show three of my small paintings on canvas. It isn't my medium but we must stretch.

Of course, I am a printmaker and I will have a selection of my newest monotypes.

Please drop by and say hello. Let's talk birds and art!

Butterflies & Baccharis

Every season is special on Jekyll. Fall brings us birds, butterflies and dragonflies. The Tree Swallows continue to move through. Now the Baccharis commonly know as ground cell is starting to bloom.

Here is a Gulf Fritillary butterfly on ground cell.You can see this plant all along the causeway. The Monarch butterflies love the frilly flowers.

There is always something happening in nature on Jekyll.

They're Tree Swallows

Every year in October and November the Tree Swallows migrate through Glynn County. This year is no exception. It is utterly fascinating to watch these birds. Yes, they are all Tree Swallows.

Plover nesting season ends

The nesting season for the Wilson's Plovers ended in August. There was one successful nest that fledged one chick.
Friday morning, I noticed the tide was very high. It got up so high that it took out the remote location sign "S4". I worried that some of the Wilson's Plover nesting signs were gone. It was long overdue to take out the signs. So after my ramble was over I went out. I found all of the sign and got most of them. There are two more sign I am hoping to recruit some help to take out.

Now next year, let's help the Wilson's Plovers by getting Operation Plover Patrol up and running.

What is Operation Plover Patrol? It is a volunteer based interpretive program. It is a long-range twofold strategy to help these nesting & resting birds. Both strategies are educationally based:

First step is to create an entertaining PowerPoint program for civic organizations and schools in Glynn and McIntosh Counties. This program will highlight the birds and the problems they face. It will present simple solutions we can do to help these birds. This program is a way to recruit volunteers for the second part

The second part is an on-site volunteer group at the South end of Jekyll. The area is known as Jekyll Point. These volunteers would act as interpreters during critical times for the birds at the south end of Jekyll. By having friendly knowledgeable interpreters in the area where the birds are nesting will give these birds a break. Want to help? There are lots of ways. Just ask.

James Holland's Amazing Trees

Sunday, I joined a group to go explore the flood plains of the Altamaha River. James Holland was our leader. Being the Altamaha RiverKeeper for many years, he learned this river and all its secrets. The thing about people like James is they love what they do. Even after they retire, they still work for their special place. Here is James standing beside cypress knees. James told us he was 6 feet 2 inches tall. So five of us follow along with him as he talked about this swamp. It was a wonderland of large trees so tall that you felt like hobbits walking around them.

Look at this one.These tree are so big you can get inside. Here is the gang inside. Well everyone but me...I am not fond of close spaces. I just peeked inside to see this tree was like a chimney. Yes, this tree is very much alive. Isn't it amazing?

We are in a drought. It has been very dry so we were able to walk around without getting our feet wet. Normally there would be water all around these trees.
Look at this roots system. It really gives us a view of how these trees survive in a flood plain. Here is our whole gang next to a cypress knee both Mike and Gene are over 6 feet tall. The Cypress tree to the left of us is a champion tree that measures 44 feet and 5 inches. Thanks to James for sharing his world and for some of these great pictures.